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Not stupid, not wrong, just angry. All out on strike.

Plans to have a twenty-four walkout by public sector workers have led to Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude branding the protests as “stupid and wrong”. He also threatened tough new laws to make it harder to strike.

Bristol Solidarity Federation members will be joining and supporting the “Day of Action” from start to finish. We call on workers from all industries to also join the strike. Stop work, refuse to cross picket lines, support the striking workers anyway you can and join the rally from College Green. Join the picket lines that will be going on right up to midnight.

To accuse two million workers as stupid is an arrogant act, by an out-of touch millionaire Minister. Each and every day these workers provide essential services. Caring for the sick, educating our children, delivering goods, administering the benefits system, or some other important work. Meanwhile parasitic politicians plan to rob us. Also continuingly undermining services they can afford not to use. We have no such luxury.

Are workers wrong to stand up and defend their terms and conditions? No, of course not. The alternative is to face a future of even more and more cuts to pay and other benefits. What is wrong is the ruling classes belief that we should suffer under austerity while they get richer and richer. Look at how the population working on low pay has almost doubled from 12% in 1977 to over 22% today. How profits have steadily risen, while the share of national output taken by wages has steadily declined, shrinking from around 60% in 1980 to 53% in 2007. Or how between 2000 and 2007, productivity increased at almost twice the rate of real wages.

No wonder we are angry.

Solidarity forever.

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This article was published on 29 November 2011 by the SolFed group in Bristol. Other recent articles: